William g



(No Model.)

W. G. DENNEY.

SEAL.

" Patented Aug. 8, 1893.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM G. DENNEY, OF SOUTH ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,110, dated August8, 1893. Application filed September 6, 1892. Serial No. 445,170- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. DENNEY, of South St. Paul, in the countyof Dakota, and in the State of Minnesota, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Seals for Cars, 860. and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is aperspective view of my seal with the shackle and locket united; Fig. 2 aside view-of the shackle detached from the locket; Fig. 3 a perspectiveview of the locket alone; Fig. 4 a longitudinal section showing a formof locket where separate lockin g chambers are provided for the shackleends, one of the latter being shown as locked in a chamber and the otheras free; Fig. 5, a similar view showing a form oflocket provided with asingle chamber passing through the same, both ends of the shackle beingshown as locked therein; and Fig. 6 a like view showing the locket asprovided with a double set of looking shoulders.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts throughout thefigures.

The object of my invention, among others to hereinafter appear,is toprovide a seal for use on cars, or in other situations where sealing isnecessary or desirable, which shall be exceedingly simple in itsstructure so that its cost of manufacture may be slight, and be capableof use without the employment of presses, stamps, or other instrumentsor tools whatsoever; and which notwithstanding its simplicity andreadiness of application shall be entirely efficient in preventingundetected tampering. r

To these ends my invention consists in the seal and in itspartsconstructed and combined, substantially as and forthe purposehereinafter specified.

My invention belongsto the class of seals which comprise a metalshackle, and a locket of some hard and brittle or frangible material, asbaked clay, pottery, &c., the sealing being efiected by latching theends of the shackle to .the'lo cket by self-acting catches, while theunsealing is efiected either by breaking the locket or cutting theshackle.

In carrying my invention into practice I prefer to make the locketA ofclay, although pottery, cement, or other hard and frangible material maybe employed to advantage, giving to it a shape that, in general, isoblong, with its greatest dimension in a horizontal direction, and allof its sides flat.

Upon the locket, as usual, are to be placed the initials or name of theperson or concern interested in it, a number, or any other desiredidentifying marks or devices.

Opening outwardly at the opposite ends of the locket, in the preferredform, are two horizontally extending chambers B and B of the same sizeand shape, lying in line with each other and separated at their innerends by a wall or partition a which completely prevents access from onechamber to the other. Each chamber, near its outer, open end, has anabrupt, downwardly projecting shoulder a adapted to beiengaged'by and tohold the latch end of the shackle O when it is introduced into thechamber.

The shackle O is made of metal Wire or strip and consists of two,straight, side pieces 0 and c, a curved or arched piece 0' uniting them,which causes said pieces to spring or tend away from each other, and alatch c at the end of each side piece; Each latch c is exactly like theother, so that either can co-opcrate with either of the chambers B andB, and consists of an inward, extension of the side piece that stands ata right angle to said piece, and at its innermost point curves upwardand outward in the form of a semi-circle, and terminates in afree-ended, straight piece 0 whose direction is toward,but it does nottouch, the side piece 0. All of the parts of the latch lie in the'sameplane as the side piece. The last described portion 0 of the latch isdesigned to have its free end to engage'with the locking shoulder a ofone of the chambers B, B, and it has an upward tend or spring to causeit to do this automatically when inserted far enough into the chamber.Each chamber B. is just wide enough, horizontally, to admit the passageof a latch, and as the inward extension of the latch rests on the bottomof the chamber, and the side piece 0 abuts against the end of the locketwhen the latch is locked therein, it will be seen that said side piecefully covers the opening into the chamber, and constitutes a completeguard against the insertion of an instrument to disengage the latch fromthe shoulder; or the admission of rain or snow to the chamber, thepresence of water in the latter in winter being disastrous in view ofthe possibility of its freezing and bursting the locket. The likelihoodof the entrance of rain or snow, however, is very small, as thechambers, when the seal is in use lie in horizontal planes, and such isthe object had in view in constructing the seal that they shall liethus.

It will be seen that each side piece 0 not only constitutes an efficientguard, but by making it perform this function the simplicity andcheapness of the device are greatly promoted, as the addition orattachment thereto of a distinct and separate part, as has beenproposed, is wholly done away with. Of course, it is an importantrequisite, in this connection, that the side pieces 0, c be in flexible,or incapable of being bent away from the openings in the locket when thelatches are locked to the latter.

The shackle may be made of steel or other wire; or steel, or other metalstrips possessing elasticity; and including both the latches and theguards for the locket openings, consists simply of a single piece bentinto shape. Preferably, one end of the shackle will be latched to thelocket at the factory, leaving the other to be attached at the place ofsealing, and it is in this connection that the use of a separate chamberfor each latch is of value, as compared with a single chamber continuousfrom one end to the other of the locket, and provided with lookingshoulders at both ends. With the latter construction, should but one endof the shackle be attached to the locket, an instrument could readily beinserted through the open end of the chamber to release it, but with theformer-construction this is impossible.

The limit of movement of the side pieces 0, c of the shackle, away fromeach other is such that the distance between the inner, rounded ends ofthe two latches is somewhat greater than the length of the locket A sothat said latches are most conveniently situated for insertion intotheir respective chambers, B, B; and the material of which the shackleis made should have such stiffness as to preserve the general shape ofthe shackle while admitting of the easy inward spring of the side piecesto place their latch ends in the locking chambers. This structure of theshackle is especially advantageous when one end only is latched to thelocket, as the other end will be conveniently held adjacent to itschamber in position to be immediately pushed therein without anynecessity for careful manipulation. Of course, if preferred, the locketand one end of the shackle need not be united at the factory but bothends may be latched to the locket at the place of sealing. If the formeris done however, all possibility of collusion between the sealer andothers is obviated by the use of the separate chamber form of thelocket, for, as hereinbefore set forth, when a latch c is in a lockingchamber, it is inaccessible from the outside by reason of the chamberbeing closed by the side piece 0 and it is inaccessible from theopposite chamber because of the partition or wall a, between them. Thelatter, it will be seen, is, therefore, of special utility with thelocking chambers disposed in line with each other, when the seal is tobe used by uniting the shackle and the locket at the factory. As shownin Fig. 5, however, I propose to use my shackle also with a lockethaving a single chamber passing horizontally through from end to end.

In Fig. (5 is shown a locket provided with two sets of lockingshoulders, the additional set being placed directly opposite the other,and making it absolutely certain that the locket and shackle will belocked together regardless of the relative positions of these parts whenthe latch is inserted in the locket chamber, thus contributing to theexpeditious use of the seal and also preventing the sealer inserting thelatch so as not to lock itself in the chamber, either by accident ordesign.

As it might be attempted to release the seal, when a locket of clay orthe like material is employed by filing or cutting through the locketsufficiently to furnish access to one of the latches and enable it to bedisengaged from its locking shoulder, and then with a View to removingthe evidence of the act, filling the opening thus made with clay,putty,or other material of like color and nature as the locket, I have deviseda very simple means to secure the seal against being so treated bymaking it impossible to restore its original appearance when oncechanged in the way described. This I do by providing either all of theexposed surfaces of the locket, or only those near to the latches withfine lines, corrugations or ribs, arranged either in straight, parallellines, or concentric circles, or spirals, or in any other way and madeor formed by any suitable means. The surface thus formed after beingonce removed, or destroyed cannot possibly be restored so as to escapequick detection.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a seal, incombination with a locket having a locking chamber, a shackle formed ofwire or strip having a latch to enterthe latter, and covering by themotion of the wire or strip adjacent to the latch the opening into thechamber from the outside of tho locket, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

2. In a seal, in combination with a chambered locket having internallocking shoulders, a shackle formed of metal wire or strip comprisingtwo connected side pieces from each of which projects a latch to enterthe locket, and each being stiff, and covering the latch enteringopening of the locket, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a seal, in combination with a locket having a locking chamber ashackle formed of metal wire or strip having a straight side piece fromwhich projects a latch to enter such chamber, formed by bending the endof the wire or strip so as to have an inward, an upward and an outwardextension thereby enabling said side piece to cover the chamber openingwhen the latch is therein, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

4. In a seal, in combination with a locket having two horizontallydisposed chambers separated at their inner ends by a wall or partition,and having each a lockin g shoulder, a shackle having a latch to entereach chamber and engage its shoulder, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

5. In a seal, in combination with a locket having two horizontallydisposed chambers separated at their inner ends by a wall or partition,and having each a locking shoulder, a shackle formed of metal wire orstrip having two connected straight side pieces from the end of each ofwhich projects alatch to enter one of said chambers, such latch beingmade by bending the wire or strip so as to have an inward, an upward andan outward extension, which lie in the same plane as the side piece,thereby enabling it .to cover the-open end of the locket chamber whenthe latch is therein, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a seal locket provide :1 with alocking chamber to receive and engage a shackle latch, and made offriable material, and having all of its surface, adjacent to thelatchinclosing portion, lined or corrugated, to prevent undetectedaccess to the latch by the removal of portions of the locket,substantially as and for the purpose shown.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this25th day of August, 1892.

WILLIAM G. DENNEY;

Witnesses:

H. B. CARROLL, J. R. WAKEMAN.

